Tag: simple syrup

A Mermaid Kiss

On By traderjaysIn Mixing Tiki, Rum RunningLeave a comment

We here at Trader Jay’s Tiki Blog are THRILLED to bring on our first Rum Sponsor… Florida Mermaid Rum.

Florida Mermaid Rum is made by NJoy Spirits, LLC out of Weeki Wachee, FL. It is a “Gold” 3 year old Florida Sugar Cane sipping rum blended with a Caribbean pot still rum then aged in their Wild Buck Whiskey barrels for 90 days.

Natalie and Kevin were very generous to provide the Trader with a sample of their local rum for tasting and mixing.


The rum recently won a Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition so, naturally, I was excited to try it.

I poured about a half an ounce out to just sip on. First, the aroma is very flavorful, it has a nice oak barrel smell. In the initial taste you can feel the natural rum taste, slightly strong, but then the sweetness peaks through and you can sense the Florida sugar cane (important to me as a Florida native). Finally, the finish ties it up in a bow as the smooth oak from the whisky barrels stays with you as the taste fades. Overall, a really nice, hardy 3 year pot still rum.

    
After a few sips I wanted to try a simple drink. Kindly, NJoy provided a few recipes to try. I decided to keep it simple with a Mermaid Old Fashioned. I took 2 ounce of Florida Mermaid Rum and mixed with the suggested 1 ounce of simple syrup (I used my homemade Mai Tai simple syrup). I then added 2 dashes of aromatic bitters, shook lightly and poured over a big single ice cube (I like to use these tiki ones). Once again, the oak was the star as it was the highlight of every sip. The 2:1 was a little sweet for my pallet, probably would pull back on the simple syrup and add an citrus peel (as suggested) but still a good after dinner sipping cocktail.

Now that I have tasted the flavor subtleties, I have a few Trader Originals in mind. Hope to experiment right after Turkey Day and share my findings. In the meantime, please give Florida Mermaid Rum a try. It is available in Florida and Georgia (full list) or you can order online here.

A special Mahalo to Natalie and Kevin for “sponsoring” my Tiki Blog.

Hurricanes in a Hurricane

On By traderjaysIn Mixing TikiLeave a comment

As a Florida native, I’m no stranger to Hurricanes. While we take them very seriously, we also know that “Hurricane Supplies” should include alcohol… especially at Trader Jay’s.

Right on the heals of my trip to New Orleans, the perfect drink to feature, obviously, is the Hurricane.

Created and made famous by Pat O’Brien’s on Bourbon Street, it is known for being a strong drink, traditionally featuring at least 4 oz of rum.

My Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans in September 2016

The recipe on the Pat O’Brien site really is just “4 oz of rum and 4 oz of  Pat O’s hurricane mix”… this is all well and good if you buy their mix but not if you don’t want to cheat.

Another issue is that Hurricanes are a hard drink to tinker with because of the high alcohol amounts (had to keep some wits about me in case things went south with Hurricane Matthew).

After some interweb research, I came up with my owen recipes. They both have the same ingredients, just with different levels of alcohol (let’s go with “Cat 1” vs “Cat 4”; We will reserve Cat 5 for one using Overproof Rum).

For non-alcoholic ingredients I used orange juice, simple syrup, sour mix and cherry/pomegranate grenadine. For rum I went with Bacardi white rum and Kraken black rum. Finally, a popular ingredient to use is passion fruit juice or purée, however I decided to up the game by using Passoà passion fruit liqueur… that’s right, even more booze!

Trader Jay’s Category 4 Hurricane

  • 3 oz Bacardi White Rum
  • 2 oz Kraken Black Rum
  • 1.5 oz Passoà Passion Fruit Liqueur
  • 1.5 oz sour mix
  • 1.5 oz orange juice
  • 1 oz cherry/pomegranate grenadine
  • 1/2 oz simple syrup

Pour all ingredients into Hurricane glass filled with ice, give a stir and enjoy!

If you’re looking to bring it down a notch…

Trader Jay’s Category 1 Hurricane

  • 2 oz Bacardi White Rum
  • 1 oz Kraken Black Rum
  • 1 oz Passoà Passion Fruit Liqueur
  • 1 oz sour mix
  • 1.5 oz orange juice
  • 3/4 oz cherry/pomegranate grenadine
  • 1/4 oz simple syrup

Should fit in Collins glass with ice.

Enjoy, Cheers & Aloha! 🍹🌺🗿

Behind the Bar: Mai Tai Roa Ae!

On By traderjaysIn Mixing TikiLeave a comment

In my first post about mixing my own exotic cocktails I figure there is no better place to start than with the most famous tiki drink ever… The Mai Tai!

There are verying stories about the creation of the Mai Tai but the most widely accepted one is from the Original Trader, Trader Vic…

“I was at the service bar in my Oakland restaurant. I took down a bottle of 17-year old Jamacian J. Wray Nephew rum, added fresh lime, some Orange Curaçao from Holland, a dash of Rock Candy syrup and a dollop of French Orgeat, for its subtle flavor. A generous amount of shaved ice and a vigorous shaking by hand produced the marriage I was after. Half a lime shell went in for color, I stuck in a branch of fresh mint and gave two of them to Ham and Carrie Guild, friends from Taihiti, who were there that night. Carrie took a sip and said, ‘Mai Tai – Roa Ae’. In Tahitian this means ‘Out of this World – The Best’. Well that was that. I named the drink ‘Mai Tai’.”

Unfortunately the popularity of the Mai Tai created a run on the 17-year Wray and it is no longer in existence. Martin Cate of Smuggler’s Cove believes that to create a taste similar to Vic’s original you should use a “blended, aged” rum (meaning of blend of the pot and column distilling methods and aged between 4 and 14 years). I experimented with a few different rums but found my favorite to be Appleton Estate Reserve Blend from Jamacia.

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Tiki Drummer guarding the Appleton Estate Reserve Rum closely!

Prior to this journey I’m not sure I would have said this but Fresh Fruit Juice makes a HUGE difference! So I now only use fresh squeezed lime in my Mai Tai. I also make my own Simple Syrup to keep as many ingredients homemade as possible. (I have not tackled my own Orgeat yet, but maybe in the future.)

My Homemade Mai Tai simple syrup (demerara suger, water and a dash of vanilla extract) and Fresh Lime.

Below is my adaption of Vic’s Original Mai Tai using guidance from Smuggler’s Cove… Give it a go and let me know what you think or put your own adaptation in the comments.

  • 3/4 oz FRESH lime juice
  • 1/4 oz Mai Tai simple syrup
  • 1/4 oz orgeat
  • 1/2 oz Orange Curaçao
  • 2 oz Appleton Estate Reserve Rum

Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice, pour over crushed ice and garnish with mint and/or lime.

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Finished product in the HippopotoMai-Tai tiki mug from Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto

Looks like Mai Tai Roe Ae to me! (Tastes like it too!)

Mahalo, Trader Vic